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Mark VIII Pumpkin Replacement Procedure

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Posted by: bhickmott

Hey Guys ... from time to time members have asked me for a step by step procedure to R&R the pumpkin. I've done this half a dozen or more time times, swapping my 3.73 and 4.10 pumpkins in and out. Finally sat down under the lift tonight with a couple beers and wrote up the procedure.

Enjoy !!!!

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Mark VIII Pumpkin Replacement Procedure

1. Raise the rear of the vehicle 12 to 15 inches on jack stands
(Don’t jack on the pumpkin … it warps the case)

2. Remove the passenger side rear wheel & tire.

3. Set the parking brake and remove the 36mm spindle nut (240 ft lbs)
(contrary to the shop manual this nut is re-usable)

4. Remove the caliper assy and wire it out of the way to the fuel fill line above.

5. Remove the upper spindle mount bolt.

6. Remove the rear-most lower spindle bolt.

7. Loosen the front-most lower spindle bolt.

8. Pull/Rotate the spindle assy towards you which will cause the half-shaft to rise which will allow you to remove the remaining spindle bolt. This is tricky and requires a little finagling.

9. Slide the spindle off from the half-shaft outer spline.

10. Remove the retaining bolts to the ABS speed sensors on both sides of the pumpkin and wire the sensors out of the way.

11. Using a large screwdriver gently pry outward against the ABS wheel on the passenger side half-shaft to release the inner C-clip inside the pumpkin. Carefully remove the passenger side half-shaft. (contrary to the shop manual the C-clip is re-usable)

12. Remove the four 12mm bolts that retain the driveshaft to the pinion flange. Separate the driveshaft from the flange. The pieces tend to rust together, so you may need to rap the flange area with a hammer, but be careful not to damage either flange. They must be perfectly flat or you’ll end up with a vibration)

13. The rear of the pumpkin has a bolted on steel flange. Remove the bolts that retain the flange to the upper cross member. (it is not necessary to remove the bolts that hold the flange to the rear cover at this time)

14. Support the pumpkin with some kind of rolling jacking device. A small “scissors type” transmission jack mounted on casters is ideal (Harbor Freight $60). You can roll in any direction and you can work the up/down with a standard rachet.

15. Remove the 2 front mounting bolts.

16. Release the C-clip on the drivers side half-shaft (using the screwdriver trick)

17. Check to make sure the vent tube is free to come down with pumpkin.

18. Slowly lower the pumpkin while at the same time moving it towards the passenger side to slide it off from the drivers side half-shaft which will remain in the car. This is a little tricky and requires a combination of lowering and moving the pumpkin further and further towards the passenger side and off from the drivers side half-shaft.

19. Installation is pretty much the reverse of this procedure. Transfer the steel rear mounting flange and vent tube from the old pumpkin to the new. Keeping the shipping plugs in the new pumpkin until it is positioned on the jack prevents fluid spills. When you are ready to raise the new pumpkin only remove the drivers side plug. You will need to tilt the pumpkin towards the passenger side to get it started on the drivers side half shaft. Fluid will definitely spill if you don’t have the passenger side plug installed.

20. This is the ideal time to install Kenny Brown bushings and a Denny’s Driveshaft.

Posted by: ONEBADMK8

Right on except you only have to do the "one axel" method and just slide the whole pumpkin out. Also you can park a truck on those housings, they cannot warp. I ALWAYS jack from the pumpkin, thousands of times.

Posted by: bhickmott

Quote:

Originally Posted by ONEBADMK8

Right on except you only have to do the "one axel" method and just slide the whole pumpkin out. Also you can park a truck on those housings, they cannot warp. I ALWAYS jack from the pumpkin, thousands of times.

Geno .... read closely .... this is the one axle method

Posted by: ONEBADMK8

Oh duhhhhhhhh. Sorry. LOL!

Posted by: AbrahamLincoln

very good post, as I am on the fence about doing it myself because ill save 200 bucks if I remove and install the pumpkin to have my gears/lok installed.

if i do, do it - ill snap some pictures.

but to add to this post, a list of tools needed (feel free to correct me im doing this for my own benefit to see what tools i don't have/need)

36mm socket for axle nut

18-24 inch wrenches for the spindle nuts/bolts?

12mm wrench/socket for driveshaft (12 point???)

large male torx socket (can you use the wheel lock key to take this off?)

i also need to buy another jack and better jack stands - since the cars before i had were about half the weight of this whale.